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It must be said first off that Scribblenauts is one of a kind. This isn’t because of its charm or replayability, but because it contains a huge database of objects that can be summoned with Maxwell’s (the main protagonist) notepad. It is absolutely astounding to discover the sheer amount of objects that can be typed into the game that instantly appear in front of you on the screen. The development team at 5th Cell have even included internet memes such as Rick Rolling, Long cat, Keyboard cat etc. Of course being a PG rated game there are no references to alcohol, sex, or any other profanities, as well as any copyrighted material or proper nouns. Hopefully that’s not enough to spoil your fun, and it shouldn’t be, because there are still so many awesome objects to discover and road test in Scribblenauts. The possibilities are near endless.

The actual gameplay of Scribblenauts consists of travelling between varying loosely themed worlds which contain multiple puzzles. The puzzles play out in small 2D world that you must solve in order to collect the ‘starite’ at the end of the level. For the most of part they’re pretty interesting, varied and keep the player gripped, but the novelty does start to lose its appeal after a while. Luckily there is a level creator which brings enough replay value to validate a long term purchase.

The controls however leave a lot to be desired. Frustrating levels start becoming more and more frequent from World 2 onwards, due to the levels gradually increasing in difficulty. Maxwell’s controls go on to make them extremely difficult puzzles when they shouldn’t be, as often you’ll see him voluntarily walk into shark-infested waters or run straight off a ledge, resulting in a restart of the level. Tapping the touch screen allows you to select and move summoned objects, but it also makes Maxwell move around. To any straight-thinking person, a problem instantly arises, because of course if you miss tapping directly on an object it will send Maxwell running, often frivolously to his imminent doom. The development team somehow missed this factor, and instead made the d-pad solely control the camera. However problems are also rife with the camera in Scribblenauts, as the level view camera moves with Maxwell, but in very jerky and quick motions, rather than smoothly. It also centres back on him after a few seconds, (if you’ve manually moved the camera elsewhere) so if you’re trying to solve something in a different area of the puzzle, tough luck, because the camera wants to be focused on Maxwell rather than what you want to do. The collision detection with some items also isn’t up to scratch, so if the whole control scheme was taken back to the drawing board in the development stage the game could have improved itself substantially.

And maybe it’s just me, but it seems as if the puzzles (bar a few) can all be solved by using the same things repetitively. The puzzle conundrum while playing usually involves the question, “Should I make a well constructed ladder out of wood, tie multiple ladders together for extra height with some rope, just to assist Maxwell in reaching the top of this cliff?” Nope. It’s infinitely easier just to give him some wings, a jetpack, or maybe even a flying horse. I suppose though that that’s the beauty of Scribblenauts, being able to complete the task at hand with any feasible desire or level of input into a puzzle (and getting a huge sense of achievement when you finally decide to build that epic ladder). Luckily there is also a mode which lets you only use every item in the game once for the whole 220 stages. Now that’s a sure-fire way to make the brain churn many, many times over.

In saying all that, and even with its flaws, Scribblenauts is just plain fun. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve lost just typing in completely random and often obscure things to watch Maxwell hold it in his hands with pride while beating a rat with it. Or how many puzzles I’ve resorted to taking to the skies riding a pterodactyl with a meat cleaver in my hand wearing a bikini to get to that elusive starite. Either way, I guarantee you will enjoy Scribblenauts, as it’s a great puzzle game that attacks the genre from a brand new direction and pulls it off with style.

By Aaron Dark (Rambo)

Graphics: B

Nothing to write home about, stylistic, hand drawn feel that works, which is often more than I can say about other DS games.

Sound: C+

Not much variety in tunes, but definitely catchy.

Gameplay: A

If you can get past the controls, you’re in for a treat.

Overall: A

A great game that is a showcase for a new and exciting idea, and is only the start of what will hopefully appear and be improved upon in games of the future.